Wednesday 22 April 2009

Flumoxed!

Out of all the decisions we've had to make regarding the development of The Daily Pie, the most difficult for me has been the configuration of pie tins on a tray - known in the industry as a 'Pie Pallet'. Pie Pallets come in standard sizes to fit standard ovens. The oven we have purchased is a two deck Pizza Oven (used by many pie makers and also known as "Pie Ovens").
Ours, of course, is not a standard Pie Oven. We need a larger pie pallet to fit into our oven for mazimum economy (pie ovens use three phase power and gobble up electricity and your budget)

That's where the Machinist comes in. He is going to cut and paste. He will be cutting some of the trays and pasting (welding) them on to other trays to create a larger batch for the dessert pies. The meat pies are a different story. For them, he is going to manufacture a tray big enough for each deck of the oven, cut holes in it (like an egg poacher) and we will purchase loose pie tins to fit in the holes.

This pie pallet / pie tin ordering has had me flumoxed. I am no mathematician and don't have much of a logical brain at all. That's where the Machinist comes to the rescue again.

Ah, the Machinist. What would I do without him?

Tuesday 21 April 2009

What's In A Sign?

Everything. Your Time, your Effort, your Heart.

Realising that "Metal" wouldn't necessarily get the tourists and motorists off the highway and into our small country Village, the Machinist and I decided that a new strategy was necessary. We knew that "Pies" would get them off the highway to exchange their car seats for our cafe seats, and seeing as our new business was going to cater for both metal and pie products anyway, - The Daily Pie it is!
Together, the Machinist and I inserted screws and spacers between each metal letter and the galvanised sheet. Tip-toeing to the extreme end of the roof for a better view, I was overwhelmed with emotion at seeing the whole sign. More so when the Grands came out of their cottage to see what all the fuss was about. Grandpa wore a huge grin and both thumbs up, unable to speak with delight. Granny, being the more verbal of the two, surprised us by clasping both hands over her mouth, and with eyes full of love and admiration, uttered "it's beautiful".

And so, here it is - our new business is set in metal: The Daily Pie, not your average pie shop:
Pies and Metal.
Who would have thought?

CATERPILLARS & KEEPING IT REAL

 Table talk amongst our children is and always has been, -  a rabbit warren . We start off in one hole and end up in another -  quick smart....